Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday mounted a sharp counter-offensive against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, rejecting his allegations that the West Bengal government was not providing land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for installing barbed wire fencing along the international border.
Even before Shah could conclude his press conference in Kolkata, Mamata, speaking at a public rally in the Barjora Assembly constituency of Bankura district, dismissed the charge as baseless and launched a direct attack on the BJP. Responding sarcastically, she asked, “If the state wasn’t providing land, then how were railway lines laid and coal projects built?”
Mamata, who travelled to Bankura by helicopter from Dumurjala in Howrah and returned to Kolkata later in the day, issued a strong warning from the rally without naming Shah. “If we wanted, we wouldn’t let you take a single step out,” she said, in a remark widely interpreted as a response to the Centre’s criticism of the state government.
Earlier in the day, Shah had said in Kolkata that infiltration through the Bengal border was no longer just a state issue but a matter of national security. “The infiltration happening through the Bengal border is not only a concern for Bengal. It is a question of national security for the entire country. Bring a strong government here that will completely stop infiltration,” he had said.
Countering Shah’s remarks, Mamata questioned the selective focus on West Bengal. “Does infiltration happen only in Bengal? Doesn’t it happen in Kashmir?” she asked. Referring to the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, she added, “What happened in Pahalgam? What were you doing there?”
The Chief Minister also raised serious allegations regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. She claimed that around 54 lakh names had been deleted from the voter list using artificial intelligence. Mamata alleged that BJP’s IT cell workers were operating from within the Election Commission’s office and that voters’ names were being removed even for minor discrepancies, including spelling errors in English.
Taking aim at Shah’s promise to build a “dream Bengal,” Mamata accused the BJP of hollow rhetoric. “Whenever elections come, they talk about building a ‘Golden Bengal’. But they don’t want to build a Golden Bengal; they want to build a Bengal of destruction,” she said.
In a broader political attack, the Chief Minister alleged that Bengali-speaking people were being persecuted in BJP-ruled states. She claimed migrant workers were being harassed and branded as “Bangladeshis” merely for speaking Bengali. Such actions, she said, were not only an insult to the people of Bengal but also violated the spirit of the Constitution and India’s pluralistic values.
The exchange underscored the sharpening political confrontation between the Centre and the West Bengal government as both sides escalate their rhetoric ahead of the upcoming electoral battles.
Also read: Police detain son of ex-TMC MLA Humayun Kabir
Follow us
